The state’s attorney says a Mexican national arrested by ICE on Saturday while on release for dumping the body of a missing Antioch woman in February could be “free in days” if he is deported.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, of Waukegan, on Saturday.
Agents arrested Mendoza-Gonzalez at a market in Chicago and he is being held in ICE custody.
Mendoza-Gonzalez, who is a Mexican national, was out of custody at the time of his arrest after he was charged in connection with the death of Megan Bos, 37, of Antioch.
Bos’ mother, Jennifer Bos, lauded ICE for making the arrest, saying that “ICE picked up the monster! Finally!”
She refuted claims by DHS and news outlets that her daughter was found decapitated but said that she was found bleached.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office also confirmed to Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the woman was not decapitated.
“Everyday ICE is arresting sickos like criminal illegal alien, Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, and stopping them from terrorizing Americans. This depraved alien was charged with concealing the body of a missing woman in a storage container for months and abusing her corpse,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
“It is absolutely repulsive that a judge freed this monster and allowed him to walk free on Illinois’s streets after allegedly committing such a heinous crime. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, Megan Bos and her family will have justice,” McLaughlin said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office said it is preparing an official request that Mendoza-Gonzalez be held locally.
“As we have told the family, we believe that a criminal trial and sentencing is more appropriate than deportation procedures,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.
Mendoza-Gonzalez is charged with several felonies, which can result in potential consecutive prison sentences upon a conviction.
“As people know, deportation to another country does not lead to prison in that country. If he were to agree to deportation, he could be free in days. We are hopeful that he will be brought to court so that [he] can be held fully accountable for his actions,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
Megan Bos was reported missing to the Antioch Police Department on March 9 after she was last heard from on February 17.
The police department began an investigation, which included working with other law enforcement agencies, including the Waukegan Police Department, due to Bos frequenting the Waukegan area.
Then-Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said Antioch police detectives went to a business in Waukegan on April 10 to question a person of interest who had frequent contact with Bos.
Mendoza-Gonzalez said that Bos came to his house on February 19 but claimed that she left after her visit, Chastain said.
Detectives continued speaking with Mendoza-Gonzalez and asked if she was still alive.
Mendoza-Gonzalez said he did not want to be arrested at the store but did not say why, Chastain said.
Detectives moved the conversation to the Waukegan Police Department and Mendoza-Gonzalez told them that Bos was in a container in his yard in the 700 block of Yeoman Street in Waukegan.
Detectives and officers responded to the home and located a partially decomposed body, which was wrapped in a blanket, in a garbage can in the rear of the residence, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Manuel Mandujano.
Crime scene tape was placed around the property of the single-family home as the Waukegan Police Department’s Major Crime Scene Unit and Criminal Investigation Division remained at the scene for hours into the evening. A search warrant was also executed.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene and took possession of the body. They later identified the subject as Bos.
Detectives conducted a further interview with Mendoza-Gonzalez, who said that Bos had come over to his residence on the evening of February 19 and visited with him, Chastain said.
He said that Bos snorted unknown drugs and asked if she could hang out in his basement, which he agreed to let her do.
Mendoza-Gonzalez said he noticed a leak coming from the upstairs and went to tend to it, Chastain said.
Mendoza-Gonzalez said he returned and believed the woman had overdosed and was deceased.
He reported that he was scared that he was going to be in trouble so he left her in the basement for a few days before moving her to the garbage can in his yard, Chastain said.
Mandujano said that Mendoza-Gonzalez wrapped Bos’ body in a blanket before placing it in the garbage can.
She remained there for nearly two months until being located on April 10.
Mendoza-Gonzalez also admitted to breaking Bos’ phone and throwing it into a trash can. He said he did not know what he planned on doing with the body after dumping it in the garbage can, Chastain said.
An autopsy on Bos performed by the coroner’s office showed no signs of trauma or a struggle.
The state’s attorney’s office said that they have been in “constant contact” with the family of Bos about her death and the ongoing investigations into the circumstances of her death, including how and when she obtained fentanyl and what role it may have played in her death.
Mendoza-Gonzalez was charged with abuse of a corpse, two counts of concealing the death of a person and obstructing justice.
All of the charges against Mendoza-Gonzalez are Class 4 felonies but none of them are detainable offenses under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act.
Lake County Judge Randie Bruno, who was the judge to authorize the search warrant in the case and called the offense “very serious,” released Mendoza-Gonzalez from custody following a First Appearance Court on April 12.
The release of Mendoza-Gonzalez prompted local leaders to be outraged at the matter.
Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner spoke out and called for immediate reforms to the Illinois SAFE-T Act, which ended cash bail in the state, to restore judicial discretion and refocus Illinois’ criminal justice system on “public safety and human decency.”
“We have lost all common sense when it comes to enforcing law and order,” Gartner said.
“When the SAFE-T Act was being debated, there were voices sounding the alarm about what could happen if it were to become law,” Gartner said.
“We are living that nightmare scenario that was predicted by many. The law is supposed to protect the innocent. Without well-thought-out laws, there is no society. And without the ability to apply those laws with reason and humanity, the system fails all of us,” he said.
Illinois State Representative Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake) was joined by House Minority Floor Leader Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), State Representative Patrick Sheehan (R-Homer Glen) and Jennifer Bos at a press conference in May to call for reforms to Illinois’ criminal justice system, specifically to the SAFE-T Act.
“The SAFE-T Act was supposed to enhance fairness, but instead, it has done the opposite,” Weber said.
“It has removed critical discretion from judges and allowed dangerous offenders to walk free. Families are paying the price for this failed legislation, and it’s time for lawmakers to act before more lives are destroyed. Megan Bos’ family deserves better. Every family in Illinois deserves better,” Weber added.
Gartner said the SAFE-T Act contains reforms worth preserving, such as those related to police accountability and low-level offenses, but he said the law must be reevaluated to allow judges discretion in cases involving serious crimes, including those related to death, weapons and obstruction.
“The SAFE-T Act, as it stands, places politics above public safety,” Gartner said.
Mendoza-Gonzalez was scheduled to appear in local court on August 11 for a case management conference but it is unclear whether he will appear now that he is in federal custody.
Mendoza-Gonzalez’s arrest by ICE came just days after Megan Bos’ mother, Jennifer Bos, went to the White House where she met with President Donald Trump during a bill signing for the Halt Fentanyl Act.